Getting Back To Normal
by lovejenmorrison
Summary: The Charming family and those they love finally get a chance to settle down and enjoy each other's company. One big happy dysfunctional family. Xx OutlawQueen/Swanthief/Charming and CaptainSwan and Swanqueen friendships. Xx Set a few years after their return from Neverland. Rated T only for potential swearing. This is my first published fanfic so tell me your honest opinion. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Emma sighed anxiously as she sat at the breakfast table. Henry busily ate his Fruitloops as he tried to beat level twenty three of his video game.

"Relax babe," said Neal with an amused smile on his face as he came into the kitchen. He adjusted his tie and kissed Emma on the cheek.

"I am relaxed," she said even though she, herself didn't buy it.

Neal chuckled talking note of Emma's extra strong grip on her spoon. "_Yeah_, the spoon begs to differ."

She rolled her eyes putting down the spoon in her bowl of Cheerios, officially done trying to make herself eat despite her anxiety. "I'm not ready to let her go," Emma admitted quietly.

Neal pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. "I know, neither am I. One moment I can hold her in the palm of my hand, and then I blinked, and she's off to preschool."

"I'm never blinking again," she said with a hint of a smile.

He chuckled. "And Mr. Henry over here," he said a little louder than before trying to pull Henry's attention away from the video game, "is going to into Junior High this year."

Henry looked up from his Gameboy trying not smile at his father's call out but failed. "You're not seriously gonna cry Mom are you?"

Emma laughed lightly. "No I am not."

"Promise no tears?" doubled checked Henry.

"I promise." Sh crossed her fingers behind her back which didn't go unnoticed by Neal who took her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay good, I'll go get Alison." Henry went upstairs to his little sister's room. It was painted a creamy white with baby pink accents. Over her bed was a light pink canopy, fit for any princess. He found her sitting on her bed flipping through his storybook, which she must have snuck into his room to get once again.

"You ready Ali?"

She looked up at his with her big sparkling blue green eyes with a big smile. "Yes!" Alison hopped off the bed and took Henry's hand and followed him downstairs into the living room.

"Wait here okay Ali?" he asked. She nodded and watched her big brother go into the kitchen.

Henry winked at his parents and stood up tall clearing his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Princess Alison on her very first day of preschool!"

Alison came running into the kitchen with excitement eager to show off her first day of school outfit to her mother. "Don't I look pretty Mommy?" She twirled around in her baby blue sundress. Neal had picked out the outfit, right down to shiny black shoes. Her golden blonde hair shimmered in the line of sunlight coming from the windows accenting her bright blue eyes. Her hair fell around her shoulders in loose curls like Emma's. She was gorgeous just like her mother.

It was enough to bring tears to Emma's eyes. She wasn't much a crier but her baby girl was growing up. "Oh Alison you look gorgeous!" said Emma holding back tears as she went over to her daughter.

"Daddy said you'd like it!" said Alison excitedly jumping into Emma's arms as she picked her up.

Emma showered her four year old with kisses, causing Alison to squirm in her arms giggling. "Your daddy has very good taste," she said putting her down.

"You can't forget this," said Henry holding up Alison backpack, a blue and sparkly with Cinderella on it.

Alison put on the backpack and everyone had a good chuckle at the fact that is was practically bigger than her.

There was a knock on the door. "I got it." Neal answered the door to see Snow, David, Regina and Killian standing at the door.

"We couldn't miss the kid's first day of school now could we," explained Snow beaming with excitement. This was their first time being grandparents from the start and they wanted to take full advantage of it.

Neal smiled stepping back letting them come in. Him and Killian exchanged a swift nodded as he came in. Killian never quite got over Emma, and Neal didn't blame him. He wouldn't have either if it was the other way around. Despite that, they had come up with a way to make it work, and that was as good as it was going to get.

"There's my little princess," said Snow hugging Alison.

"Look at my backpack!" She turned around so Snow could admire her Cinderella backpack.

"Wow what a cool backpack."

Charming sat next to Henry at the island who was happily watching Alison run from person to person showing off her dress and backpack.

"So junior high huh? I remember when you were in Mary-Margaret's class."

Henry smiled. "Well that's a good thing, considering that I was in her class for like seventeen years making bird houses."

David laughed, "That is true. But those were some pretty good bird houses."

"They sure do beat Algebra homework."

He chuckled ruffling Henry's hair.

"Alright, everyone stand over here," called Snow pointing in front of the island. "I want to take a picture."

Everyone filled in in front of the island. Emma and Neal were in the middle, with Emma holding Alison. Killian and Regina stood next to Emma and David and Henry crouched down in the middle.

"Everybody say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

Smiling along with them Snow took the picture. "What a great looking family," she commented.

"I wanna see the picture!" Alison wriggled out of Emma's arms and ran over to Snow how bent down to show her the picture. "But you aren't in the picture."

"I know, but everyone I love is in the picture so that's good enough for me." She kissed Alison on top of her head.

Neal looked at the clock. It almost 7:30 and the school bus would be coming soon. "Okay kids! Get all your stuff ready and we'll walk you down to the bus stop."

"Uh Dad?" asked Henry hesitantly as he grabbed his backpack.

"What's up buddy?"

Henry nodded for him to join him in the corner and Neal followed. "What's going on kid?"

"I was wondering if I could walk to school instead of walking. Grace is on the way and…"

Neal smirked. He and Emma were aware that Henry and Grace had a crush on each other. Although him and Emma found the two of them absolutely endearing, neither of them were ready to have "The Talk" with Henry.

"Sure kid, just make sure it's alright with your mom."

Henry sighed and went to find Emma.

Alison happily showed off her Cinderella backpack to Regina. "Do you like it?"

"It's nice, kind of ironic," said Regina slightly amused.

"What does 'ionic' mean?" asked Alison with a frown.

"Don't worry about it. It looks lovely," she said with a smile.

"Thanks!" She twirled around in her dress. "Don't I look like a princess?"

"Princesses have tiaras."

"But I don't have a tiara."

With a flick of her wrist a small golden tiara appeared in Alison's hands. "Wow, how'd you do that!"

"Magic," whispered Regina. "Now you can be a princess."

Alison excitedly put on her tiara and went over to Killian and Emma showing off her newest accessory.

After another ten minutes of chatter and attempting to get everyone out the door, Neal and Emma walked Alison to the bus stop. Henry had left a few minutes early to set off to walk to school.

Emma's heart started beating a mile a minute when she saw the school bus round the corner. "Neal I'm not ready," Emma whispered in Neal's ear.

"She'll be fine Em," he said taking her hand. "She's got your survival genes."

"Who am I gonna snuggle with as I watch Good Morning Storybrooke?"

"Preschool's only three days a week, you two can catch up on Good Morning Storybrooke on Thursday."

Emma cast a glance over to Alison who was busily crouched inspecting a lady bug who had crawled on to the sidewalk. "You do realize that dress and those tights are going to be ruined by the end of the day," she said amused.

Neal shrugged good-heartedly. "At least she looked good for Snow's picture. And she looks absolutely adorable just like her mother."

Emma threw him an incredulous look.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You are so corny."

"Oh please you love it."

"Love what?" asked Alison finally bored with the lady bug.

"Nothing, you're dad's just trying to be funny."

"I was thinking, I don't really want to go to preschool yet," said Alison cowering behind her mother as the yellow school bus pulled up.

"But don't you want to show everyone at school your pretty dress?" asked Emma turning around so she could face her daughter.

"No I wanted to show _you_ the dress. Can't you and Daddy come with me?"

"You see sweetheart," said Neal stroking his daughter's hair reassuringly. "You're going into preschool which means you're a big girl now and big girls go to school without their parents."

"But if I'm s big kid, I can't snuggle with you and Mommy."

"Oh no, no matter how old you are you can always cuddle with us."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart," said Emma kissing Alison on the cheek.

Alison thought over it for a moment. "Alright I'll go," she decided.

Neal and Emma each gave her a goodbye kiss and watched her get on the school bus.

Neal put his arm around Emma's shoulders as they waved goodbye to Alison. "They grow up so fast," he sighed.

"Yeah, we gotta talk to Regina about making that stop."

Neal chuckled. "Come, we still have some time before work and you and I both could use a cup of coffee."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

"So**,"** said Grace grabbing her Math book out of her locker and closing it so she could face Henry who was leaned up against the wall. "Your Mom let you walk to school?"

"Yeah, she was a little busy trying to not cry on Ali's first day of preschool."

Grace giggled. "And was she successful?"

Henry chuckled. "Not as successful as she wanted to be, but I have to admit that Ali was making it awfully hard with how cute she looked in her dress."

"Ali is pretty cute." She followed Henry down the hall as they walked to their first class. "What do you think of my outfit, it's not too Junior High try-hard is it?"

Henry took a step back to observe Grace's outfit. She wore blue skinny jeans with a floral printed top. "No, I think it looks nice."

She smiled. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself."

He chuckled. "We make a good looking couple," he joked before he even realized what he said. Grace and him both blushed and continued walking to class in silence.

* * *

Regina looked up when she heard a knock on her office door and it open. In stepped Robin Hood along with his irresistible ability to charm his way into her heart. She tried to stop the small smile the spread across her face but did so unsuccessfully.

"What are you doing here? Don't you and your _merry man_ have hunting to do?"

Robin smirked and crossed the room to sit across Regina at her desk. "Actually yes," he said plopping down a brown takeout bag from Granny's onto the desk. "But it only takes one man to hunt down a plain bagel with cream cheese for the mayor." He smiled.

Regina couldn't help but smile. "What, no OJ?" she joked.

Robin shrugged chuckling. "There's unfortunately an OJ shortage at the moment. Terribly inconvenient, I know." Regina laughed

After a comfortable moment of silence, Regina spoke. "So you came all the way down here to deliver a bagel?"

"Now that you say so no. Roland's been asking when I'm gonna finally invite you over for dinner. So Madame Mayor, would you like to join us for dinner? My grandmother's famous shepherd's pie is on the menu."

"I uh," she was rather surprised by the offer. "I guess I could, Henry will be at Emma's for the night."

"Is that a yes?" he asked with a smirk.

"I'll bring dessert?" she asked to answer his question.

Robin smiled standing up to leave. "6 o'clock good for you." She nodded. "See you at six o'clock sharp. Good day Regina."

"Good day Robin." She watched him leave with a smile from ear to ear. And then she realized something. _What on earth was she gonna wear to dinner_?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: ** thanks for sticking around and staying with this story even though it's taken me forever to update. it's been a little crazy with finals and everything. also thanks for the reviews, favourites, etc. they really motivate me to keep going!

* * *

**Emma** sat behind her desk at the station nervously tapping her pencil on the surface as she watched the clock. It had only been a little bit over an hour since Alison had left for pre-school and Emma was already about explode with anxiousness. It had been a relatively slow morning at the station much to her chagrin. She had hoped there would be something a little bit more exciting to keep her mind of things than a neighbor to call about Pongo's barking.

She just about to call it quits and throw in the towel for doing paper work when she heard the familiar sound of heels clicking against the ground from down the hall. And sure enough, Regina appeared in her doorway.

Regina wore her traditional gray business dress, hair blown out slightly, and the same shade of lipstick she wore every day, but Emma noticed something different about her. Finally, she put her finger on it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're glowing," said Emma amused.

Regina sighed happily and sat on the edge of the desk taking a minute to figure out what to say. Since there adventures in Neverland, the two of them had been able to put their differences aside and found that the two of them made a great pair as friends. "Guess who stopped by my office this morning," she said trying to contain the ridiculous school-girl grin that always seemed to appear whenever she thought about him.

Emma raised her eyebrows curious.

"Robin."

"Oh, and what did Robin want?"

"He invited me to dinner tonight."

Emma sat up in her chair excited. "Please tell me you said yes."

"Well I couldn't exactly say no."

She rolled her eyes good-heartedly at Regina's attempt at trying to see nonchalant about it. "Oh come on Regina, I know you're excited."

"I am." She pushed herself up off the desk and pretended to be grossly interested in the bouquet of flowers on Emma's desk. "What do I wear?"

"Well certainly not that dress," Emma chimed.

"What's wrong with my dress?"

"Well for one, it's a little boring, and if you want to impress Robin you can't just wear any old dress."

"All my dresses are like this, she said slightly confused as to where Emma was going with the conversation.

"But my dresses aren't."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "You want _me_ to wear one of _your_ dresses? Wouldn't that make me seem kinda…disparate? Greys and blacks are my colour."

Emma scoffed. "Disparate? No. Totally hot? Yes. Come on, a little colour didn't hurt anyone." She gathered up her keys and radio incase all things the town decided to go to hell when she left.

"You're gonna leave work?"

"So far I've gotten a noise complaint about Pongo and if someone can tell the paperboy to stop aiming at the mailbox. I think Storybrooke can handle itself."

Regina thought over it for a minute. "I guess looking at your dresses couldn't hurt."

She laughed following Regina out of the station. "Of course not, I have awesome style."

"Don't flatter yourself Miss Swan." She cast Emma a smirk and followed Emma to her car.

* * *

"**They** gave him horns?" Belle asked incredulously as she turned _Disney's Beauty and the Beast_ book towards the tiny baby boy for him to see the picture, but found he was fast asleep in his baby seat. She had volunteered to watch James while Snow and Charming went over to Emma's for the morning. James, in looks, took after his mother. He had wispy black hair and dark green eyes.

"Well if you ask me James, Rumple certainly makes a better 'beast'," she said putting down the book.

"Reading him the Disney versions again are we?" asked Killian leaning against the wall across from Belle. Emma had convinced him that he needed to find a job other than drinking and bar hopping and advised him to maybe try the library.

Belle shrugged. "They're kinda funny to read."

"The Captain Hook in those versions is less than a dashing rapscallion like me."

She scoffed. "You don't think a big red hat with feather would suit you?"

He rolled his eyes and craned his head to see James in his baby seat. "He doesn't seem to be too interested in the story either. Speaking of which, where are Snow and Charming? They barely let the kid out of their sight for more than a second let alone an entire morning."

"Granny needed their help with something. Snow should be here soon to pick him up."

And almost as if on cue, in walked Snow seeming slightly flustered. "Sorry I'm a little late. The meeting got held up; you know how Granny likes to talk."

Belle chuckled. "James was good all morning. He's been fed, we played peek-a-boo, and now he's fast asleep."

"He does like peek-a-boo," she said smiling as she brushed her son's hair out of his face while he slept.

"Did Swan make it through the morning without being reduced to water works?" chimed Hook with a lopsided grin.

Snow rolled her eyes.

"What?" asked Killian innocently. "Little Alison nearly brought me to tears with that dress, I wouldn't expect anything less from Emma."

"Have you talked to David yet about taking up some shifts at the station?" asked Snow changing the subject.

"Why? I'm working here." Hook said slightly confused.

"Yeah, you're doing a hell of a job," mumbled Belle under her breath casting a glance over at the stack of uncatalogued books that were starting to take over the front desk.

"Sorry I don't work at lightning speed. I'm short one hand," he said nodding toward his hook.

Snow shook her head, "well the offer is still there if you want to take it," she said picking up James in his baby seat. She turned to Belle. "Thank you once again for watching him."

"Anytime." Smiling, she watched Snow leave.

* * *

**Regina** sat on Emma's bed watching as Emma rummaged through her closet for a suitable dress for Regina to wear.

Emma and Neal's room was rather large. It was very modern like her apartment back in Boston, making it seem like it didn't quite fit into the charming town of Storybrooke. It was painted a creamy white with light blue accents. Next to the closet was the vanity that Gepetto had made as a wedding gift to Emma. Its surface was cleared off except for a few hair elastics and hairbrush. Emma was never one to take the time and properly apply her makeup.

"You know," said Regina feeling her stomach twist in knots of nerves, "maybe this isn't such a good idea."

Emma peeked her head out of the closet with an amused, skeptical smile. "Oh please Regina, you'll be fine. Here," she said tossing Regina dark cranberry dress, "try this on."

Regina held up the dress to have a look at it. She noted the colour. "Dark cranberry…very me wouldn't you say?"

"What'd you think," asked Emma kicking aside on of Alison's toys that had ended up in her closet, "I'd pick out a bubble gum pink dress with sparkles?"

"Well…"

Emma rolled her eyes good-heartedly. "Just go try the dress on."

Regina threw Emma a look and went into the master bathroom.

"So are you gonna cook anything to bring over to his place?" asked Emma from the bedroom sitting on the bed playing with the fringe of the blanket.

"Dessert, I'm thinking my specialty, apple turnovers." She popped her head from out behind the door, adding with a smirk, "sans the sleeping curse."

Emma scoffed rolling her eye. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Regina zipped up the zipper in the back and walked out. "What do you think?" She did a 360 spin showing off the dress to Emma. The dark cranberry dress hugged her figure nicely without giving too much. It was classy yet casual enough for dinner.

"Wow," Emma raised her eyebrow impressed. "I have good taste. With one of your blazers, that'll look perfect."

She crossed the room to look at herself in the floor length mirror. "Hm, maybe cranberry can be my new colour."

"So I'm guessing this dress is a yes for you?"

"I'd say so yes," she said smiling turning towards Emma. She glanced at the clock. "It's almost time for the city council meeting. I gotta get my notes together."

"Get changed I'll drive you back," offered Emma.

* * *

**David** watched amused as he watched Snow for the third time in a row try to get the icing design on the sugar cookie just right. James watched his mother intently from highchair.

"They don't have to be perfect," chuckled David.

Snow looked up at David with a scoff. "Of course they do! They're for dinner tonight at Emma's and Alison loves her cookies."

"Ali's four, not a food critic."

"Four, yes, but she expects her grandma's cookies perfect." She placed the last silver dollop of frosting on the cookie with a smile. "There, all done." She held up one of the pink frosted flower shaped cookie.

"Perfect," he said with a smile. "Now will you please sit down and relax? You've been going since morning and James misses you." David stroked the soft wisps of hair away from James' eyes.

Snow smiled at her son, walking around the table and sitting down in between David and James. "He was sound asleep when I picked him up this morning. Belle was reading him some stories."

David chuckled. "The two of them seem to get along well. And Hook?"

Snow rolled her eyes good-heartedly. "Dashing as always. I told him about the job offer at the station."

"And…"

"He seemed interested. I'm sure Emma will be getting a visit from him soon."

* * *

"**I** see the sheriff's office is swamped with cases." Emma looked up to see Hook leaning against the doorframe watching her with an amused glint in his eyes as she attempted to keep the pot of flowers on her desk a float.

She jumped slightly startled, unaware of his presences causing the pot to come crashing back down on the desk with a rather loud crack. "_Hook_."

"Oh please don't let me interrupt," he chuckled pushing himself off the door way and sitting down across from her.

Emma shot him an incredulous look. "Aren't you supposed to be working at the library with Belle?"

Hook shrugged dusting off some of the dirt that spilled from the pot off the edge of the desk. "Lunch break."

"And what can I do for a pirate on his 'lunch break'?" asked Emma.

Hook bit his tongue in efforts not to let out his essential, cheeky response. "Your father sent me over here actually. He so cleverly deduced that perhaps working at the library wasn't the best fit and that my _skills_ could be used elsewhere."

"So you want a job here at the station," deduced Emma.

"A couple shifts at the station here and there wouldn't hurt."

Emma sighed. "I suppose not. However working at the station would require a change in wardrobe." She smiled raising her eyebrow.

Hook's smile dropped. "Oh that's just bad form Swan. What's a pirate without leather?"

She giggled shrugging her shoulders. "Do you want the job or not?"

He stared back at Emma sizing her up. She wasn't going to give it up. "Looks like I'm going to have to go shopping," he sighed.

Emma smiled. "Good, take Neal with you. You two could use some bonding time."

Hook raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Swan, no. Men don't go shopping together."

"Please, I'd make me happy." It was a cheap card to play but it really did make her happy when Neal and Hook spent some bonding time together. The two of them had come to have a pretty good relationship and she loved getting them to bond every opportunity she got.

"Did you really just play that card?"

"I did, yes."

"Tell him I'll be going sometime after dinner."

She smiled content. "Good. You start tomorrow morning."

Hook nodded looking up at the clock. "It's almost twelve o'clock; don't you have a pint sized princess to pick up from preschool?"

"Yes I do," Emma said packing up her things and taking out her car keys. "See you tonight then?"

Hook nodded and followed Emma out of the station.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tiny** first-day preschoolers scattered giggling and yelling across the front lawn of Storybrooke's preschool as they waited for parents to arrive under the watchful eye of Ms. Mather. Alison sat under a tree and watched the other kids play off to the side.

"Do you not like tag?" asked a small voice from behind her.

Alison turned to find a small boy with curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. "I don't want to ruin my dress."

He sat down next to her. "I'm Kyle Lucas. Aren't you Alison Swan?"

She threw Kyle a questioning look.

"Ruby's my mum; I've seen you around the diner with Emma before. You probably haven't really seen me though, I'm usually in the back."

"Oh," said Alison lightly before pausing to ask, "Are you a…"

"Wolf?" he finished. Alison nodded. "Yes, but mum says I shouldn't talk about it. She says it might scare people off."

Alison shook her head. "I don't think so. My grandma's told me plenty of stories about Ruby being a wolf and she's not all that scary."

"Well you're the daughter of the Saviour. Nothing scares you."

She shrugged. "Dragon's scare me. You aren't a dragon too are you?" she joked.

Kyle giggled. "You're silly. Can you do anything cool? You're the Saviour's kid."

"My mom and Regina say I shouldn't use magic without adult supervision."

"So you _can_ do something!" he said excitedly.

Alison giggled. "It's not as interesting as yours."

Kyle shrugged. "I think you're pretty cool."

She blushed looking down at her dress. "How come I didn't see you in class?"

"I'm in kindergarten."

"Oh," she said surprised.

"Don't worry; I still think preschoolers are pretty cool."

"Is it harder than preschool?"

Kyle shrugged. "It's only the first day, we don't do anything."

Emma parked across the street. Her heart fluttered when she spotted Alison across the school yard talking with Ruby's boy. One of her main fears was that Alison would be too shy to make friends or that kids would call her out for who her family was. She crossed yard over to the tree. Alison was too engrossed in conversation to notice.

"Hey you. How was your first day?"

Alison's head shot up excitedly at the sound of her mother's voice. "Mommy!" She jumped up and hugged her.

"How was school?" asked Emma running her fingers through Alison's hair.

"It was good. Look, I made a friend Kyle," she said smiling towards Kyle.

He smiled shyly up at Emma as he stood up. "Hi."

Emma smiled down at him. "You're Ruby's kid right?"

"Mhm."

"My you've grown since I've seen you. What are they feeding you, magic growing beans?"

Kyle chuckled. "Not quite." His eyes landed on Granny just a few feet behind Emma. "Granny's here I gotta go. It was really nice meeting you Alison."

"Nice to meet you too," she smiled as she watched him leave.

"He seems nice," commented Emma as they walked back to the car.

"He's a kindergartener."

"Going for the older boys already," Emma teased. "Like mother, like daughter."

Alison's eyes widened with dismay. "He's not my boyfriend! And he's only in kindergarten, Henry told me that Daddy was like a billion years older than you," she huffed offended.

Emma chuckled. "I forgot four year olds take everything literally," she said amused. Alison shot her a confused look causing Emma to scoop her up and plant a small kiss on her nose. "Don't worry, I love my little princess just the way she is."

Alison beamed at her mother. "Good because I'm as good as it gets."

She laughed. "You most certainly are my dear."

**The** rest of the afternoon went by rather uneventful. David picked up the afternoon shift at the station while Emma and Snow occupied Alison.

Alison sat snuggly on the couch in between Emma and Snow. Draped over her shoulder was James' favourite baby green fuzzy blanket that he always slept with. He lay cradled in Snow's arms, eyes wide with wonderment as he stared at Alison trying to take in all that there was to see.

"Can I hold him now?" piped up Alison eagerly. She had only gotten to hold baby James once when he first came home from the hospital. After that whenever she asked they always said sometime later.

Snow glanced at Emma making sure she was alright with it. It was that Emma didn't want Alison to hold James; it was just that she knew how fidgety her little four year old could get. "Sure as long as you're not too squirmy, you don't wanna upset the baby."

"I won't, I promise."

"Okay hold your arms like this," said Emma positioning her arms as if she was holding a baby and watched Alison copy her.

"Make sure you support his head okay?" said Snow gently placing James in Alison's arms.

Alison did her best to stay still for James. "He's so little."

"I remember when you were that little," said Snow quietly as she brushed the stray strand of hair out of Alison's face.

She giggled. "He kinda looks like you Mommy," she examined with her eyes flickering between James and Emma. "His eyes look like yours."

"Huh," said Emma looking down at James. "We do, don't we? And he has your nose."

**Neal** rounded the corner and turning onto his street. The city council office was only a few blocks away so he didn't mind walking to work every now and then. He spot Archie walking Pongo down the street and waved. "Hey."

"Hey Neal, how's it going?" he asked as he crossed the street lead by an excited Pongo.

Neal scratched Pongo behind his ears. "Hey buddy. Things are pretty good; it was Ali's first day of school today so I'm sure it's been a pretty eventful day."

Archie chuckled. "I'm sure it was. Say hello to Henry for me."

"Of course. See you at Granny's Potluck on Wednesday?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he said with a smile. "See you around."

Neal smiled as he watched the man and his dog continue down the street whistling an old show tune. He turned to make his way to the house and walked straight into a what felt like a black wall of leather causing him to drop his backpack.

"You alright there mate," Hook asked picking up Neal's backpack and handing it to him.

"Yeah," he said clearing his throat. "Just didn't see you there. What are you doing around here?"

"What? A man can't go for a stroll?"

Neal smirked. "You know what I meant."

"I was talking to Emma this afternoon at the station and she wants us to go shopping…together," he said shifting somewhat uncomfortable.

Neal quirked an amused eyebrow. "_Shopping_? Men don't shop together."

"She wants us to bond or something," he said rolling his eyes.

"Bonding over shopping? What exactly are we shopping for, more eyeliner to match you're all black leather get up?"

Hook chuckled with hint of amusement and annoyance. "Actually we are shopping what Swan called 'regular clothes' for me to wear for my new job at the station."

"Oh good David finally told you about the open spot. In that case you really _do_ need a wardrobe change. No one's gonna take you seriously in that."

"Anyone will take me serious in whatever I wear with this particular 'accessory'," he said flashing that smile of his.

"Don't worry _mate_, you'll still look devilishly handsome." He patted Hook on the shoulder. "Come on up and say hello. Alison's home and I'm sure she'd love an audience to tell her first day of school adventures to."

Hook chuckled. "I wouldn't want to miss that now would I?"

**Henry **sat at the island in the kitchen watching Regina flutter around the kitchen preparing her infamous apple turnover. He took note of her particular anxious glances she keep offering at the clock on the stove.

"You're nervous for tonight aren't?" he deduced.

Regina looked up from putting a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top of the turnover with anxious practically written in her quirked left eyebrow. "Who ever said I was anxious?" she asked trying to play it cool although she knew she wasn't fooling anyone.

It was Henry's turn to lift an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

She sighed, "Okay maybe I am just a little bit."

"Don't be," said Henry hopping off his chair and joining Regina on the other side of the island. "He likes you, everyone can tell." He looked down at the apple turnover with an amused smirk. "No sleeping curse in this one right?"

Regina rolled her eyes with a smile. "Go put your shoes on; I want to stop by Emma's before I go over."

"Sure." He grabbed his shoes and sat down at the kitchen table to put them on. "So um, do you think it'd be alright if I went out tonight?"

"_Tonight_?" Regina asked surprised. "It's a Monday night, where on earth are you going?"

"To the movies," said Henry hoping that would be enough.

"With?"

"A friend."

"_A friend_ , that's definitely a unique name," quipped Regina. "A friend wouldn't also happen to go by the name Grace would she?

Henry's jaw dropped. "How'd you know?"

"I have my ways," she said with a smile. "But unfortunately not tonight. It's a school night." Disappointment coloured Henry's expression. Putting the apple turnover on one of her flowery painted plates, she joined Henry at the kitchen table. "How about we make a deal?"

"What are you Mr. Gold?" he joked.

"Nope, just the evil queen helping her son. How about you promise me that you'll stay at Emma's tonight and I let you take Grace out to dinner and a movie on the weekend?"

Henry mulled the idea over. "Sounds good to me."

Regina smiled. "Now let's go, I don't want to be late."


	4. Author's Note

**Author's Note: **Hello! Hope you all are enjoying the story, i just wanted to clarify a few things before continuing. This story is taking place a few years after season 3A. (Please note Season 3**A**). So no, Snow and Charming don't have another child, their only child is James who is about one years old. I decided not to name him Neal 1) because I started writing this during the hiatus between A and B and 2) because naming him Neal would just be confusing because in this story Neal/Bae is still alive. And lastly, I want you guys to primarily focus on the content of the story not the timeline. I'm not writing this to exactly match up with what has happened in 3B and what is going to happen in Season 4, so just enjoy the story.

I hope that cleared some things up for you :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note **Thanks to everyone who has stuck around for this story. I'll try to update more regularly but it gets really busy sometimes. I hope you guys like this chapter. I really tried to explore some different relationships in this story and create a nice one big family dynamic. Also keep in mind that the storyline in this story does not match the show but I am gonna try and incorporate some elements of Season 4 into. Thanks to Alison for helping with some ideas for the OQ dinner date! Hope you guys like it and remember to review!Xx :)

* * *

**Killian** sat in the mini sparkly pink chair at the mini table complete with a mini tea party set. As he watched Alison skip around her room gathering various sparkly scarves that would be suitable for him to wear at the tea party. He inwardly groaned. He had simply asked her how her first day of school went and somehow ended up getting stuck playing tea party.

"_You _get to wear the sparkly pink one," Alison said handing Hook one of the scarves, "and I'll get the sparkly blue one."

"Oh good, cause we all know how wonderful pirates look in pink," her muttered.

Alison raised her eyebrow unimpressed and swung her blue scarf around her neck. "I think it's perfect."

A giggle from the hallway caught both of their attention. Killian turned to see Emma trying to stifle her giggle as she looked on to their tea party by the doorway. "Wow, pink really is your colour. Maybe you should get some pink shirts while you're out shopping."

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Tempting, but no. And as lovely as this tea party has been Miss Alison, I must be going."

Alison sighed. "That's alright."

Emma and Killian let Alison continue with tea party and went downstairs to the kitchen. Henry was entertaining James in his high chair while David and Neal were cooking dinner and Snow was giving Regina tips for her dinner.

"Just be yourself, obviously Robin fell for you just for being-" Snow paused halfway through her sentence when she saw Emma come into the room and dragged Emma over. "Would you please tell Regina to stop stressing out over a simple dinner?"

"Easy for you to say Miss Sunshine and Daisies, you're a walking Hallmark Valentine's Day Card," quipped Regina.

Emma chuckled at Snow's perplexed look. "You gotta admit, you kinda are."

She shrugged, "I suppose so."

"Just try to relax and go with the flow. It's not like you guys haven't ever hung out with each other. Think of it as any other day and if it helps," she said before lowering her voice, "you're wearing one of my lucky dresses, so you'll be just fine."

"Good lord Miss Swan," said Regina blushing, "it's our first date and Roland's there."

"Hey," said Emma throwing up her hands, "a lucky dress never hurt a woman. Now will you please get out of here and go already. It's nearly six o'clock and you've already kept him waiting long enough."

Regina gathered up her apple turnover and let Emma show her to the door.

"Just remember to be yourself," said Emma softly as she watched Regina head to her car. Regina turned around and smiled.

"I'll try my best."

**Just** as Henry did an hour ago with his mother, Roland sat at the dining room table watching his father pace nervously about the room making sure everything was in order.

He glanced up at the clock; it was fifteen minutes until six.

"I thought she'd be here by now," Robin muttered to himself as he finally sat himself down on the surface of the coffee table.

"She's coming Papa," Roland said encouragingly. "I bet she's just running late."

Robin sighed and haphazardly traced the rim of one of the coffee cups he had left on the table trying to relax. A few moments of silence ticked by until finally the ringing of the doorbell rang through the air.

Robin sprang up from the coffee table and rushed through the door. He took a moment to take a deep breath to compose himself, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in his shirt and running his fingers through his hair. He looked back at Roland for a second to see him smiling and he opened the door.

His jaw nearly dropped when he saw Regina standing on his door step wearing a sleek dark cranberry dress holding a plate with her infamous apple turnover.

She offered a smile, "Hi."

Regina's words jolted Robin back to reality. "Uh hi," he said clearing his throat. "Please come in," he said stepping aside so Regina could enter.

"Regina!" shouted Roland excitedly jumped down from his chair and ran into the foyer to give her a hug.

"Hey Roland. I made your favourite; apple turnover."

"Yay! It looks delicious," he said taking it from Regina to put on the counter for later. "You don't think we could just skip right to desert."

"Sorry buddy," said Robin ruffling his hair as he passed by him to get take the shepherd's pie out of the oven, "Dinner first, dessert second. Why don't you help Regina set the table?"

"Sure!"

Regina went about setting the table with the help of Roland, not without noticing Robin's stolen sideways glances at her as he put the finishing touches on the shepherd's pie. There was something different about her; it wasn't her makeup or her hair. Finally he put his finger on it. That most certainly was not a Regina dress. Normally she wore shades of grey or navy blue and saved colours like cranberry for the smaller things like lipstick or heels.

Regina looked up from the place that she was setting and at Robin who was now staring at her with that idiotic grin that she loved so much. "What?" she asked curious placing her hands on her hips.

"_That_ Miss Mills," he said inclining his head towards her, "is not your dress."

Immediately Regina blushed dipping her head.

Robin smirked at her shyness. "I thought black was your colour," he said walking to stand next to her. "But," he said reaching out for hand and lifting it so she could twirl around, "I think cranberry definitely suits you."

A smile spread across Regina's face. "Perhaps I can have two colours."

Robin chastely kissed her on the cheek and Roland's hands flew to his mouth trying to stifle a giggle unsuccessfully.

Both Robin and Regina chuckled. "I think it's cute that you're trying to impress me."

Regina smiled. "Let's eat shall we."

**Killian** stared pensively at the store front from Neal's car. "Do we really have to do this? I heard about this thing called inline shopping and you can pick out your clothes and it shows up on your doorstep."

Neal raised his eyebrows amused. "First off, it's _on_line shopping and secondly, I doubt that the UPS truck knows were Storybrooke is."

"You-pee-S. What are you talking about?"

"Letters mate, not words. UPS, United Parcel Service?" Hook cocked his head still not grasping it. "You know what never mind, let's just go and get this over with."

Killian sighed. "Aye mate let's go."

Kilian looked around Storybrooke's only department store not sure when to start. He glanced at Neal who had the same slightly overwhelmed look.

"And I thought Neverland was scary," mumbled Killian.

"At least we don't have demonic teenagers attacking us."

"No, just overly aggressive sales people," Killian said dryly as a woman with a huge grin approached them.

"Hello! Welcome to 'Storybrooke Design' can I help you find anything? Men's dress shirts are buy two get one half off and jeans are buy one get thirty percent off. If you have any questions feel free ask any of our employees. You can sign at any of the registers up front to become a mem-"

"Thank you…Julia," interrupted Neal glancing down at her name tag, "but I think we're all set."

She nodded and proceeded to her next customer.

"At least we know where the shirts and jeans are."

Once Hook got the hang of how the sizes and different fits worked, picking out shirts was relatively easy . He picked out a few dress shirts and some casual t-shirts for everyday activities.

Neal waited outside the dressing room while Killian tried on one of the soft cotton long sleeved t-shirts. He wondered over to the small jewelry section. The only time he actually somewhat enjoyed shopping was when he was shopping for one of his kids or Emma.

Although Emma would never admit it, she loved it when Neal surprised her with little suspected gifts. Neal smiled remembering the way Emma's cheeks and chest blushed a subtle pink whenever she was taken by surprise or embarrassed.

A silver chain bracelet caught his eye. It was thin with a tiny diamond snowflake. Even though Emma was a summer baby, he knew she loved winter, probably because it gave her an excuse to not leave the house and watch Netflix all day.

"I've never felt a shirt this soft ever in my life." Hook's surprised voice from behind him pulled him out of his thoughts of Emma.

"Hm what?" he asked turning around.

Killian held up the t-shirt he had just tried on. "Softer than a baby's bottom."

Neal smiled slightly amused and turned back to the snowflake bracelet. Killian followed Neal's gaze and saw what he was looking at.

Killian cleared his throat shifting uncomfortably. "Oh…" He had moved on from Emma after she chose Neal and was happy that Henry finally had a proper family, but he'd never forget the way Emma made him feel and would give nothing more to be in Neal's position.

Neal looked at Killian sensing his uncomfortableness. He wasn't unaware of Killian's residual feelings. He tried his best to make it comfortable for everyone over the past few years.

"You should get it," said Killian softly. "We all know how much Swan likes winter."

Neal smiled and looked around to find however was in charge of the jewelry case.

**The sounds** of clashing of swords and video game buttons cut through the air as Emma and Henry played Henry's "A Knight's Quest: 2" video game that Killian had gotten for him. Belle had come over to help Snow sort through her old book collection for books she could give to the library, in the kitchen as they looked on at the video game. Alison had fallen asleep on David's lap in full tea party princess gear as he read the newspaper.

David chuckled as Emma failed miserably to defeat one of the trolls in the video game. "It's a good thing that your real life fight skills don't reflect those of your video game swordsmanship."

"Hey these are level 6 trolls," said Emma not taking her eyes off the TV. "They're tricky little bastards."

"You wanna play David?" asked Henry.

"Sure," he put down the newspaper and gently picked up Alison from his lap and placed her on the armchair. Henry handed him his controller and he went into the kitchen to see Snow and Belle. Stacks of books and journals were scattered around the floor and the counter tops.

"How's book sorting going?" he asked sitting down at the island.

"Alright, your grandmother has certainly collected a lot of books over the years that's for sure," Belle said pulling another box of books over to her .

Henry listlessly picked up an old bulky book with a white cover. He flipped through it and stopped at one of the pictures that had been drawn in. A beautiful woman with long blonde braided hair who wore a simmering blue dress stood in the picture. In the background was a beautiful grand castle. At first he thought that the grounds of the courtyard were made of glass, but he quickly realized that it was in fact ice. Underneath the picture was a caption. It read, "Elsa, Queen of Arendale."

Henry hopped of the stool and sat down on the floor next to Snow and Belle.

"Do you know where Arendale is? I've never heard of it, I don't think it was ever mentioned on in my book." He asked handing over the book to Snow.

Snow glanced at the picture. "I don't even know if it exists. When I was little I used pretend to go on wild adventures to find it but I've only read about it in stories." She handed the book to Belle who flipped through it some more.

"My father mentioned it once or twice in fables, but I don't know anyone who has found it. I once heard that the queen, Elsa, had magic made of ice and one day she accidently froze over her kingdom."

"Cool! Mind if I keep this book for myself?"

"Go ahead! It's all yours."

"Thanks." Henry got up and trailed upstairs to his room. There was no way this ice queen was just a fable. If there was one thing he learned over the past few years was stories weren't just stories.

**Regina** sat snuggly on the couch next to Robin with a glass of red wine as they watched Roland practice performing his role as 'Knight #1' for the school play as the apple turnover heated up in the oven.

"I'm surprised Roland let them give him a sword and not a bow and arrow," whispered Regina softly to Robin as Roland warded off an invisible dragon.

"Oh they did, and then two arrows shot at the podium later, they decided a sword would be much better," chuckled Robin amused remembering the distressed call he got from Roland's music teacher. Regina laughed.

"And then I stab the beast in the heart and save the day!" shouted Roland excitedly and vanquishing his dragon and taking a bow. "Did you like it?" he asked curiously sitting right in between Robin and Regina.

"I most certainly did. I know one this for sure, is that if a dragon comes through Storybrooke it better what out for Mr. Roland Locksley," said Regina kissing him on his cheek.

Roland giggled whipping off his cheek. "Can we have dessert now? Please!" He looked eagerly back and forth between the two of them.

"Oh alright," said Robin getting up. "Let's have us some apple turnover."

He got out the apple turnover from the warming draw and set it on the dining room table.

They sat and enjoyed Regina's apple turnover as Roland went on about his school play. Regina couldn't help the tiny flutters and butterflies in her stomach whenever Robin and her made eye contact across the table. He made her feel like a teenager all over again giggling and smile over every single thing that they did.

Of course his son's play rehearsal stories were fascinating, Robin couldn't help but taking every chance to steal a glance at Regina and make her smile. It was only their first 'date' and he already knew that this woman was quite possibly the woman he had been waiting for all these years.


	6. Chapter 5

**The** house was dimly light and quiet by the time Neal had gotten back from shopping with Hook. He spotted the soft yellow light that was coming for the den as he draped his jacket over one of the kitchen table chairs and put down his keys before following the light. Neal found her curled up on the small couch reading over a case with the radio on low.

"Hey," he said softly bending down to kiss her on the cheek and sat down next to her.

Emma shut the file and smile. "Hey stranger, I've barely seen you tonight," she said stretching and placing her legs over his lap. "Alison's fast asleep and Henry found a book while Snow and Belle were sorting through her collection. He seemed really into so I'm assuming we won't see him for the rest of the night."

Neal chuckled. "Oh so that's what all those books were. What book has Henry found this time?"

"I think it was about some kind of Ice Queen named Elsa. Ever heard of her?"

"Just briefly in the old stories that Papa used to tell me before bed. She froze over a kingdom or something like that." Emma quirked her eyebrow unamused causing Neal to laugh. "What was that look for."

"Nothing, just this Elsa character better stay in that book, I'm not about to go defrosting Storybrooke."

"I don't know, that'd make for one heck of a winter and we both know how much you love winter."

"Yeah because I get to stay in and watch Netflix with you, if some crazy ice queen freezes Storybrooke how will we ever catch up on Orange is the New Black, hm?"

"Very good point. Speaking of winter, I got you something while out shopping with Killian, which by the way I hope you know is a one-time thing."

"Oh please you love shopping with Killian," she said sarcastically shooting him that look that would make him do anything for her.

"Alright, alright close your eyes," he said digging through his pocket for the box. Emma excitedly closed her eyes. "No peeking."

"I'm not!"

"Promise?"

Emma giggled. "_Neal_."

He took the bracelet out of the box and slipped it under Emma's wrist and fastens it so the snowflake was facing towards her. "Okay open."

Emma opened her eyes and looked down at her wrist. Her eyes fell upon the small diamond snowflake and she gasped.

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

Instead of answering Emma sat up and flew into Neal's arms. "I love it," she whispered kissing him.

Neal smiled relieved. "Glad you like it. I saw it wandering around while Killian was in the dressing room and it had your name written all over it."

Emma kissed him once more on the cheek before snuggling back in his arms. She held out her wrist admiring the bracelet. "It's perfect."

Neal played with Emma's hair as he hummed along to the song on the radio. "It looks gorgeous on you."

"Maybe I should send you out shopping more often."

"Next time Hook has to get a new wardrobe you're coming with," he said pressing a kiss into Emma's hair.

Emma giggled and got up turning off the radio.

"Hey, I liked that song," Neal protested.

Emma walked back over to Neal gesturing for him to stand up. Raising his eyebrow curiously he complied. "_I_ say we start winter early, grab some Froot Loops and watch some Netflix."

"I do like that idea," he said following Emma into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter top as Emma rummaged through the top cabinet for her secret stash of Froot Loops that she hid from Alison who had a knack for midnight sugary cereal escapades. "Would you like chocolate milk or red wine to go with your Froot Loops?"

"Hm," Emma thought while popping a few Froot Loops in her mouth. "Definitely red wine. Between Alison's first day of preschool and helping Regina get ready for her date I could definitely use something to relax."

Neal chuckled grabbing a bottle of red wine out from the top shelf and two wine glasses. "How did Regina's date with Robin go anyway? Have you heard from her at all?"

"Actually no," realized Emma surprised. "Then again she is wearing my lucky dress," she quirked her eyebrow.

Neal cleared his throat smirking and turning back to the cabinet to shut the door. "I do love that dress," he mumbled.

Emma giggled and crossed the kitchen to sit on the counter top next to Neal. "Speaking of my lucky dress, we haven't gone on a date in forever. What do you have to say for yourself Mr. Cassidy?"

He put down the glasses and the bottle of wine and turned to stand in front of Emma. "Hm well _Mrs_. Cassidy, I didn't take you for a woman who waited around for a man to ask her out on a date."

"Well you were right." She laced her fingers into his. "Will you go on a date with me?"

Neal pretended to think about it and Emma swatted him on the shoulder giggling. "No please?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Will you go on a date with me _please_?"

Neal chuckled. "Of course," he whispered and Emma kissed him until his head was dizzy.

She hopped off the counter and brushed pass him grabbing the bottle of wine and Froot Loops. "Come on, Orange is the New Black is calling my name," she called.

Barely an hour later, the soft sound of Emma's deep breathing could be heard over the TV. Neal gently moved Emma's head off of his shoulder and reached over to the nightstand for the remote to turn off the TV.

He heard the soft pitter-patter of feet down the hallway and Alison came running into the room and jump on the bed. Emma woke with a start.

"What? What happened!" Her eyes slowly focused on Alison who was clutching to her baby blue blanket. "Oh," she sighed tiredly and laid back down. "Why aren't you in bed baby?"

"I had a bad dream," mumbled Alison moving to lay between her two parents. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"How about I read you a bedtime story and tuck you back into bed?" Alison shook her head. Emma pinched the bridge of her nose exhaling. "Fine, come here." She pulled back the covers and Alison curled underneath and snuggled next to her parents.

"Just for tonight," said Neal wrapping his arm around both of his girls.

**Neal** absent-mindedly watched the news as he tossed around the scrambled eggs in the frying pan. Emma was making her best effort to keep Alison still as she braided her hair into two French braids.

"Ali honey, just stay still for one more minute."

Alison sighed exasperated. "Can you hurry, this is making me bored."

Henry chuckled and got up from the kitchen table and sat down in front of Alison with his book. "Here, you can look at the pictures," he offered.

Alison took the book curiously flipping through the pages to look at the pictures throughout, effectively keeping her still.

"Thank you," said Emma gratefully as she moved on to the second braid without a struggle.

Neal motioned with his head for Henry to come over.

"What's up?" Henry asked curiously.

"Don't make any plans for after school okay?"

"Uh…sure but why?"

Neal shrugged nonchalantly. "Can't tell you that or else it wouldn't be a surprise."

Henry leaned against the counter curious. "What are you and Mom up to?"

Neal picked up a piece of scrambled egg from the frying pan and tasted it. "Eggs are ready," he announced before winking at Henry and crossing the kitchen to get the plates out of the cupboard.

Emma managed to finish the second braid before Alison started squirming in her seat again with impatience.

"Can I get up _now_?"

Emma laughed at Alison's impatience, something that she must have inherited from her side of the family. "Let me see how they came out first." Alison turned around. Emma smiled, brushing the bangs out of Alison's face. "Perfect."

"Can I wear my tiara again?"

"Maybe we give the tiara a break for today."

Alison pouted. "But Regina said you have to have a tiara to be a princess."

"I'm a princess and I don't have a crown." Alison raised her eyebrows slightly confused, not knowing what to say to get her way. "Go eat," Emma said helping Alison down from the stool. "I promise you can wear your crown after school."

"Alright," she sighed.

**David** and Henry watched Alison playfully skipped down the sidewalk holding Emma's hand on their way to the bus stop.

"So no walking with Grace to school today?" asked David curiously.

"No," said Henry flipping through Snow's book. "We decided to take the bus. I wanted to show her the book I found."

David craned his head to see the cover of the book. "Hm, 'Queen of Arendale' interesting. You're not gonna…go all Operation Find Snow Queen' on us are you, because I'm pretty sure your mom is liking the peace and quiet."

Henry laughed. "Well it's definitely not called Operation Find Snow Queen, Gramps."

David scoffed. "Right. Just don't do anything…"

"Stupid? Don't worry we won't."

Alison came skipping up to them.

"Grandpa come look at this lady bug that lives in the grass by the stop sign." Alison eagerly grabbed David's hand and pulled him down the sidewalk to the stop sign where the school bus would come.

She knelt down on the ground and skimmed through the grass before she finally found what she was looking for. Gently she scooped up the red lady bug into the palms of her hands and held it up for David to see.

"Look! Isn't he cute?" She let the lady bug crawl into David's hand. "I named him Lady."

David chuckled. "Very creative name," he mumbled. Emma elbowed him in the ribs. "I mean, great name. Is Lady here often?"

"Gramps, I've only been here twice." She scooped Lady out of David's hands and went over to Henry to show him her new little friend.

Emma watched Alison for a second before turning back to David. "So me and Neal were thinking about maybe getting the kids a pet. We've been thinking about it for a while now. With both me and Neal working now and Henry spending more time at home alone, he could use a little buddy and Alison could use a little sleeping buddy. Maybe you could take them to the pet store after school."

David cocked his head interested. "I think it's a good idea. Henry would definitely enjoy it. What's up with Ali? Is she having trouble sleeping?"

"Last night she slept in our bed again. She's been having more and more bad dreams lately. I don't know if it's because she just starting pre-school or what." She sighed. "I think sometimes she just wants to snuggle."

"She is at the age where she needs to start learning to stay in her bed. A little buddy might help but I have a feeling that you'll just end up with both her and her new little friend in your bed instead."

"True."

"The real question is, can you take on a new member of the family? You're already dealing with Ali going to pre-school."

"I'm starting to get a hang of it. It's not so bad, she's only gone three days a week and we get some nice time together after she gets out."

They spotted the school bus rounding the corner.

"I'll swing by after work and pick them up and we can go for a look."

"Thanks. Ali, Henry the school bus is here!"

Henry gave back Alison the lady bug and they walked back over to David and Emma.

"Goodbye Mr. Lady," said Alison before gently placing it back down in the grass. She gave David a hug before giving Emma a long hug.

Emma kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you in a bit okay? Be good." Alison nodded and followed Henry onto the bus as Henry waved back to Emma and David.

Emma waved to Alison and Henry one last time as the school bus pulled away.

"Still not easy," said Emma turning to follow David down the street towards the sheriff's station.

David wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulder. "It'll get easier eventually. It's only the second day; you can cut yourself some slack."

She sighed. "I know. Between Henry with his first crush and Alison going off to pre-school, everything seems like it's moving so-" She was interrupted by her phone ringing. A smile spread across her face when she saw who was calling; Regina. "One second, let me take this." David nodded and let Emma trail behind him a bit.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd call. How'd last night go?"

"Slow down there Sherriff, someone's a little excited."

Emma rolled her eyes. "So you're not gonna tell me…"

"Talk over coffee at Granny's for brunch later?" offered Regina. Truthfully she was bursting with excitement to tell Emma about her date but she wanted to tell her in person.

"Sounds good, just swing by the station."

"Good day Miss Swan."

Emma caught up with David.

"How's Regina?"

"She was a little tight lipped but I think her date went well. You know Regina, she never likes to actually show that she's actually excited about something."

David smirked. "She's a little bit of an introvert."

Emma chuckled, "I guess you can say that. Neal and Killian also seemed to have nice evening together shopping. Killian _finally_ has some real clothes and it seems like they're starting to get a little bit more comfortable with each other."

Putting his hands in his jacket pockets, David smiled fondly at Emma. "The two of them have come a long way. I think that they're more friendly with each other than what they want to catch onto. I mean, Killian was an influential figure in Neal's life before here. It's just a matter of putting past feelings in the past."

"I suppose you're right. I'm just glad they're not fighting over me anymore," she said inwardly cringing as memories of their unpleasant adventures in Neverland flashed forward in her mind; definitely not their finest moment as friends.

**Leaning **forward to get a closer look in the mirror, Regina couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face as she applied her usual shade of red lipstick. _Is this what it feels like to finally_ _start to get a happy ending_? Regina rolled her eyes at herself. Anymore of this grinning, people might mistake her for school girl head over heels with a crush. She looked at herself squarely in the mirror. _Focus. Focus_. Her grin only got bigger.

"What's next, singing to blue birds and befriending a pack of dwarves?" she chuckled to herself gathering her paperwork for the office and heading out to her car.

**Shrugging **off her black jacket and draping it over the back of her desk chair, Regina spotted a takeout bag on her desk with a yellow sticky note attached to it next to a red rose.

It read "_A plain bagel with cream cheese for my queen"_ proceeded by a smiley face.

Butterflies soared through Regina's stomach, somersaulting, colliding and intertwining as her heart melted. If her smile was ridiculous this morning leaving the house, it was most certainly out of this world now ridiculous, so large that it would give the Charming's a run for their money. And as if on cue, Robin Hood appeared in her door way, looking dashing as ever in his dark green vest.

"Good morning," he said pushing off the door frame and sitting on the edge of her desk across from Regina. "You seem to be in a good mood today." He quirked his eyebrow smirking.

"I seem to have a few extra reasons to be smiling today. However, how _exactly_ did you get in here? I thought I locked everything when I left last night?"

Robin smirked. "Have you forgot who you're dating?"

Regina rolled her eyes laughing. "Hazards of the decision I guess. I've got to meet Emma down at the sheriff station in a little bit. Maybe I'll stop by after work."

He nodded, leaning over to kiss her on her cheek. "Until then."

Smiling, Regina watched Robin go. She glanced at the clock, she had just about an hour to get going on some paperwork and then meet up with Emma for brunch.

**A wave** of the smell of maple syrup and freshly brewed coffee washed over Regina walked into Granny's Diner, bell chiming over head. Ruby, leaning over the counter as she took Grumpy's order, looked up.

"Oh hey Regina, Emma's sitting over in the corner booth by the window," she informed nodding in the general direction. Sure enough, the town's savior, dressed in her usual red leather jacket, sat in the leather cover-seated booth, intensely enjoying a glazed donut as she read the day's newspaper.

"I see you started without me," said Regina coolly as she slipped into the seat across from Emma.

"There's no waiting when it comes to these babies," Emma said fondly as she ate the last piece sliding the newspaper over to Regina.

Sighing at her friend's ever-so dashing display of donut eating, Regina looked down at the newspaper. "'School Year Begins Without a Hitch'," she read the headline out loud. She quirked an eyebrow unimpressed. "And?" she asked looking up at Emma expectantly.

"This is now the _fourth_ year without some major crisis. No wicked witches, no crazy fourteen year old boy trying to rip my kid's heart out..."

"Miss Swan, let's not jinx things, but yes it has been oddly uneventful for the past few years but I'm enjoying it while I can."

"As you should. Now tell me," Emma said as a huge smile spread across her face, "how was last night?"

A light shade of pink coloured Regina's cheeks.

"Oh my god, you didn't-" gasped Emma, excited like a school girl.

"No! Get your head out of the gutter Swan."

"Fine, so…" lead on Emma expectantly.

"It was just really nice. We had dinner and a few glasses of wine and then after we just hung out on the couch as Roland played. This morning, he so cleverly broke into my office and left me flowers and breakfast."

"That's adorable!"

"Yeah the banditry, so adorable," Regina tried to fiend a level of annoyance.

"Oh please you love it," Emma chuckled calling out Regina's bluff.

Regina practically melted into a puddle. "Okay yeah, it was pretty cute."

"What kind of flowers?"

"A rose."

"Good," said Emma sitting back satisfied. "Roses are always a good sign. He's really into you."

Regina ran her fingers through her hair smiling as she sat back and gazed out the window. "I know, and I'm really into him which is scary but exhilarating at the same time, you know? I don't want to get my hopes up too much, in case things just don't work out."

"Regina," Emma reached across the table and grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is your time to get a happy ending, don't worry about what could go wrong. Look at how happy he's making you. Things are gonna work out fine, I just know it." She offered her a smile. "I mean _look_ at you, you haven't stopped smiling all week."

Regina chuckled. "I'll give the Charmings a run for their money certainly. Speaking of the Charmings, how was Ali's first day of school?"

The memory of Ali excitedly bouncing around the kitchen the yesterday morning in her school dress immediately brought a smile to Emma's face.

"She seemed to enjoy it, when I was picking her up in the afternoon she was talking to Ruby's boy Kyle under the tree. They were cute, all giggles and smiles. I'm glad she's making friends. Although this morning she demanded that she wear her tiara that you gave her and told she has to have to be a princess," scoffed Emma as raised her eyebrow.

"Hey," chuckled Regina raising her hands defensively, "I was just educating your child on proper princess attire. Kyle's a good kid, it'll be nice if she has friend who also has magic."

Emma nodded approvingly.

"How you'd hold up, no tears?"

Emma laughed. "No, well at least not many. I kinda ate my feelings with a box of Froot Loops and a glass of wine last night with Neal."

"Toothache in a box cereal," quipped Regina, "nice way to go. How was Henry's first day? I didn't really have a chance to talk to him much yesterday."

"He didn't really say much, you know him. Same old, same old first day of school routine. Though he did find this book in Snow's old book collection that he's really into so there's that."

"Oh, which one?"

"Something about an Ice Queen."

"If he conjures up some Ice Queen and freezes over the whole town, he's grounded for a month."

Emma laughed taking a sip of her coffee. "I'll be sure to pass the message along, better yet, you should come over for dinner. I think Neal wants hamburgers."

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"Just you're sass and good wits, Neal and David have dinner covered for tonight."

Regina chuckled and sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I better get going, that stack of paperwork won't get itself done."

Emma nodded. "Same. I suspect Killian will be at the station by now, don't want to miss his normal clothes debut."

"Oh my god, you _actually_ got him to finally change his wardrobe."

"I'm a woman of great power Miss Mills," joked Emma.

Regina scoffed and stood up to go. "I wasn't aware you Savior expertise included stylist."

"What can I say," said Emma throwing down some money for the bill and getting up, "I'm chock full of surprises."

Laughing the two of them left Granny's .


End file.
